When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean."  He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I do choose.  Be made clean!"  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  Then Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

The Church Fathers saw a deeper meaning behind this miracle.  The ugliness and destructive power of leprosy represents sin.  It slowly eats away at us and works to destroy our communion with others.

We can appropriate the leper's prayer, then, to ourselves.  "Lord, if you choose you can make me clean."  Jesus wants us to have the confidence to approach him, to never be discouraged at the depth of our misery.  If he can cleanse leprosy how much more can he do for our souls if we but cast ourselves on the ground before him in all humility and beg him to do so.

After his cure the leper is told to present himself to the priest as Moses commanded in Leviticus 14.2-32.  After he is cleansed he can receive a certificate which allows him to be reintegrated back into the social and religious life of Israel.

Sin separates us from enjoying the full communion of the saints.  Is there anything more painful than separation from the community?  It is a foretaste of hell, which is eternal separation.  We are all sinners.  But who among us is courageous enough to recognize it and humble enough to cast himself before the only one who can heal, cure and restore?  "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean."